He can like character guys all he wants, the key is to find guys who can also play hockey, and judging by the Leafs inability to promote guys like Ross and continual reliance on those mediocre NHLers like the ones we have on the roster says something about the quality of draftee the staff is able to come up with.

Here's a tidbit for you guys, in the 06 draft, Morrison wanted Bryan Little badly, we almost got him, but he was picked 1 pick before us. Mo was apparently crushed.

Probably would have looked better for Dave Morrison if he had pushed for Claude Giroux instead of Jiri Tlusty. Bryan Little isn't even that amazing of a player, he scored 6 more points than Tlusty last year.

Probably would have looked better for Dave Morrison if he had pushed for Claude Giroux instead of Jiri Tlusty. Bryan Little isn't even that amazing of a player, he scored 6 more points than Tlusty last year.

I think we don't really draft many players from the Q. A lot of teams passed on Claude Giroux...

Trevor Timmins passed on him too and drafted Fischer? He was playing right under their nose and missed him.

At the deadline the Leafs have $29,049,703 cap space, and have $16,334,167 available space for next year.

You even use trades which means salary out salary in.

There is no cap space issue.

All of those players are pending UFAs.

There is no cap space issue this season but there isn't much cap space for next season.

That $16,334,167 available in cap space for next year doesn't include giving guys like Kadri, Gunnarson raises or reinking guys like Bozak. After you fill out your roster we don't have much cap space.

Grabo could bring in good assets at the deadline. In the off-season I actually think we'd have trouble getting much of anything for him as a lot of teams are already close to the cap or their internal budget.

Grabo is overpaid and not what this team needs. Is he a number center, nope. Is he big, nope. Is he physical, well he does get hit a lot but that tends to happen when you skate around with your head down. Is he great defensively, he is average for a 2nd liner.

This team has to many non-physical imposing permiteter forwards as our core beyond this season.

Time to start changing that which means somebody has to go with CMac, Bozak and Grabo right at the top of that list.

Then we can build around Kessel, Lupul, JVR, Kadri and potentially Kulemin for our big minute forwards. As well as have lots of cap space in a league where many teams will be looking to shed salary.

"...what if the Leafs bottom out and give up a shot at Nathan MacKinnon or a Seth Jones or Jonathan Drouin.

Those three are excellent players, maybe even potential franchise players. Potential. But Subban is a charismatic star and O’Reilly, while a little slow-footed has all the requisite playmaking, penalty killing and leadership to play on your first line. They are among the NHL’s best young players and while the other two seem sure to be, the Leafs should be ready to deploy their assets for more immediate results…like making the playoffs."

I am sorry but ROR is not even close to being worth the Leafs 1st round pick.

If there is one thing the Leafs have learned in the last 4 years of pain and frustration, I hope it's this:

NEVER trade your first round pick if you are not 100% positive that your team is a playoff team.

When you trade your picks you lose out on Scott Niedermayer, Luongo, Seguin, Hamilton, a chance to draft in the 2003 draft.

We traded our 2003 pick...the deepest draft in recent memory and we had no first round pick. That pick was eventually Mark Stuart but who knows? Leafs could have had Corey Perry, Kesler, Bergeron, Weber etc.

We traded a 4th overall to re-acquire Wendel Clark...that one ended up to be Luongo.

If you reverse half the mistakes this organization has made, we're a Cup contender right now.

I hope so. I just don't like it that someone so close to the leafs organization is thinking this way, let alone having this article on the leafs website. It's like broadcasting to everyone that we haven't learned our lesson.

I hope so. I just don't like it that someone so close to the leafs organization is thinking this way, let alone having this article on the leafs website. It's like broadcasting to everyone that we haven't learned our lesson.

Well he's just a blogger...so it doesn't matter much.

I like some of his articles but trading the first round pick is just not an option unless we're getting a proven #1C.

I'd trade the 1st+ if Tavares were somehow available. Then I don't care if that pick is first overall.

"...what if the Leafs bottom out and give up a shot at Nathan MacKinnon or a Seth Jones or Jonathan Drouin.

Those three are excellent players, maybe even potential franchise players. Potential. But Subban is a charismatic star and O’Reilly, while a little slow-footed has all the requisite playmaking, penalty killing and leadership to play on your first line. They are among the NHL’s best young players and while the other two seem sure to be, the Leafs should be ready to deploy their assets for more immediate results…like making the playoffs."

Let's make this a calm discussion guys. What do you think?

The topic of the first rounder is sensitive to Leafs fans, so why not stir up a bit of nonsense?

Probably would have looked better for Dave Morrison if he had pushed for Claude Giroux instead of Jiri Tlusty. Bryan Little isn't even that amazing of a player, he scored 6 more points than Tlusty last year.

The ultimate magical crystal ball post, 21 other GM's and scouts probably would have looked better in retrospect.

He can like character guys all he wants, the key is to find guys who can also play hockey, and judging by the Leafs inability to promote guys like Ross and continual reliance on those mediocre NHLers like the ones we have on the roster says something about the quality of draftee the staff is able to come up with.

Only Half correct, if only they could clone Alex Kovalev and Tom Fitzgerald.

Is Ulmer turning into one of those guys who posts something they know will get the fanbase riled up just to get hits and comments on his articles? It's a remarkably stupid idea he's proposing. You do not trade your first round pick midseason. Maybe you can have that kind of flexibility when you are a Cup Contender, but the Leafs aren't even a playoff team.

Imagine if they had simply thrown in the towel in 2008 and walked away with Steven Stamkos and had the good sense to lay low for the Tavares draft? That would have been the kind of long term thinking that would have at least given us one or two pillars to build with instead of what we have now. And imagine if Burke had the foresight to actually offer the Sedins a major cap circumvention deal and still made the Kessel deal?

We'd be looking at a roster with Sedin-Sedin-Stamkos-Tavares-Kessel.

Look, i hate BB as much as the next guy BUT,IIRC the twins never made it to UFA, did they?